Growing Up

Sorry this is sideways. Blogger won't recognize that I flipped it!!! Anyway, here is Benjamin in the $5 suit his grandma found which he will outgrow in another month but he looks very handsome and grown up in it!

Here's Matthew trying to be a big boy!

Jacob came to us on Sunday and announced "It's ready!" He had carefully poured water for everyone and placed them around the table.

Summer Fun!

Summer is quickly coming to a close but we got some fun in when our nice Christian came to visit. We went to Ringing Rocks, a really cool place recommended by friends about 25 miles away. You hit the rocks with a hammer and some sound like bells. Check out the videos at the bottom.

Climbing out to the rocks.

Evan had a really good time with this. It's what he's good at...MAKING NOISE!

Christian and Evan making some music.

Matthew checking things out.

Jacob takes a rest with daddy.

Matthew finally woke up and got into the swing of things.

Evan trying to catch up to Benjamin.

Benjamin loved climbing out as far as he could.

There was even a little dog enjoying himself.

Jacob taking a break before climbing some more.

Christian making papoosas from El Salvador.

They turned out pretty good and we learned some things along the way:)

Jacob climbing

and driving!

The very cool sprinkler!

Matthew wasn't quite ready for this.

We met one of Benjamin's friends from school here for a play date and they had a good time even though it was SOOO hot that day!

Christian and Evan making music

Benjamin ringing rocks

Matthew's Adventure in Chocolate

Ben made Peanut Butter Blossom cookies and Matthew loves cookies (he will even call other things that look like a cookie, cookie). Well, he touched it and got the melty chocolate on his finger and had to keep dipping and come back for more...

Then he decided that he needed to make some chocolate art!

The finished project!

Matthew says "Run away from the daddy trying to clean me up!"

The finished Matthew!
He said "Cheese Mama" for this one. So cute!

Evan Loses His First Tooth

Evan lost his first tooth on Saturday, August 1st at around 5:25 pm. He was actually in Kentucky with Ben and Benjamin visiting grandma so I didn't see the event, but he called me and was so excited. He bit into some corn on the cob and that did the trick. He did bring it home before leaving it for the tooth fairy so I got to be a part of that. I think the other one on the bottom is loose too so more to come soon!

Here it is when it was wiggly:)

Stover Park

We had a great day at Stover Park a couple of weeks ago with our friends. My friend Suzanne first told me about this place last year and the raspberries were ripe. Here are the ones we managed to bring home:) We had a great time playing in the water, exploring, skipping rocks and looking at the fishies, tadpoles, crabs, etc, in the water.

The Fruits of My Labor

I wasn't able to do much gardening this year because we quickly found out that we have a whole family of groundhogs and rabbits living in our backyard. So I decided to make my own version of the Topsy Turvy and grow tomatoes upside down. Works pretty good!

Tomatoes on a salad...

Fresh salsa! There is nothing like homegrown tomatoes!

My basil and chives are doing well

Here are the hanging tomatoes before they started to ripen.
Ben just drilled large holes into the bottom of some buckets and we installed hooks on the deck to hang them.